The Fourth Twilight

[THEME MUSIC]

It is now the point of the evening where the world has gone dark. The sun has not yet set, but no light from it can reach the island under the dense storm clouds. Throughout the mansion, the five remaining family members and the three servants are still hard at work trying to find the witches, wherever they may be.

A thump can be heard outside as a body falls to the ground. Nobody inside can hear it, but if they did, they would know that the number of survivors had just decreased by one.

Meanwhile, inside, in a large dark room, somebody works tirelessly dragging chairs around for a big event. Somebody pokes their head in to check on the progress of the event, and gives a thumbs-up of approval to person moving the chairs.

For Briggs's break, he decides to go to the dining room to grab a bite from the kitchen. He walks inside...



[THEME MUSIC]

Bertram and Maurice stand side-by side in the doorway, shocked looks on their faces, unable to believe what has transpired. Asher lurks a little further behind. Wyn stands close to him. Archer stands close to Allister, afraid for his well-being.

The large dining room is lit only by candle fire and a large array of food sits on the table in the center.

At the head of the table, wearing a white hat and a smile, is Gloria Moonview, a shotgun placed across her lap.

To her right, with a knife wound in his chest, is the smiling, cheerful, face of Billy Moonview.

Across from Billy is a charred black husk of a human being. It must be either Mickey or Robin.

Next to them is Vincent, with strangulation scars around his neck. He has a dull smile as well.

Lucine is seated the next closest. If she is smiling, it is not perceivable due to the crater replacing her visage. Next to Lucine is Zachary, his eyes bulging from the poison he ingested. Another charred corpse sits nearby the two of them. Next up is Violet, who smiles in spite of the still-bleeding wound in her chest. Jackie sits close by after that, her face still missing. Towards the back is Basil, holding a fork and knife even though his fingers are smashed. Beside Basil is James, laying back in his chair, again with no face.

There, at the very back of the table, is Briggs Anderton, eating together with the family. His face is missing, but his hot build is unmistakable, even without a face.

Laying down thirty feet away, soaked with mud, in a puddle of her own blood, is Twilip Moonview. She's not breathing and her feet are twisted at odd angles. It appears someone killed her.

[SCENE MUSIC]

With the stunning scene burned into everyone's retinas they begin to remember that they need to try their best to find the killers, wherever they are. This is the last chance they have before the witches will take their victory.

It's do or die.

[Final Twilight in 24 hours!! Please execute before then and get your actions in!]

"Heavens to Betsy... This is a horrific scene to put up." Maurice looked like he was about to puke. "Was... This coordinated by more than one witch? That is... quite a lot of effort to go to. Was Asher responsible for one of these deaths..? Urgh..."

Trying to put aside his feelings, he went over to look at the corpses (even the old ones to see if anything had changed) and see if there was a magic circle somewhere in the room.

---

Looking around the table, Maurice cannot see much unexpected with the corpses. It looks like someone turned over Lucine's corpse.

It appears that Twilip was stabbed and dragged into the dining room. She's bleeding from her chest wound.

It must've been a lot of work to put these corpses here, maybe an indication that more than one witch did this.

A cross magic circle is drawn in red paint on the end of the table furthest from Gloria.

"Ugh, good lord, this is vile!" Bertram said, grimacing at the display. "These witches are out of their minds, truly. Such depravity..." He quickly turned to leave after making sure he'd given the room enough of a cursory examination.

In a far more pleasant room, he continued, "To business, then. I want this damned thing to be over with already. Maurice visited me, no-one else did. What does everyone else have to report?"

Maurice came back after his investigation and reported his findings to the others once more. "It seems likely there are about two witches remaining here, maybe even three", he concluded. "It's truly a disturbing thought... We need to be careful about who we lynch. Perhaps Asher may be able to help us out with killing another suspect as well... In any case, Briggs had the swapping ability, yes? Can we reasonably ascertain who he swapped here, perhaps? If it is relevant, of course. The fact that he died may mean the witches were targeting him simply. Who knows for Twilip, though."

"And of course, I did plan to visit Bertram again so we can say he did not get swapped here."

---

"I think it best if we only kill one more person," Bertram said. "Left to chance, if we kill two, the witches will defeat us almost assuredly. We would have to rely on the last witch killing themselves or Asher getting lucky. I think it's far more beneficial if we only kill one person. That could be either right now, or left to Asher, but if we kill someone now and they're a witch, then we'll stop them from acting in the final twilight."

Archer almost wretched at the scene before him, but manages to compose himself.

“....Unless Briggs got in the way, which I doubt, I’ve managed to ‘steal’ Madame Twilip’s Power.”

“...It was quite exciting, actually, but that’s hardly the point now. We can discuss what exactly I will do with this strange ability shortly, once the others speak up and explain what they’ve done.”

“B-Briggs...” Allister sobbed. “Not again...”

Trying his best not to vomit at the sight in front of him, the boy turns away from the scene.

“I didn’t visit anyone, as usual. I don’t know if anyone tried to target me either.”

"I investigated Maurice. I found out that he cannot be killed during a twilight except for the circumstance outlined previously [in part 1]. So...it seems like he too was telling the truth." Wyn explains.

Asher grimaced at the sight of the bodies and gagged a bit, the image clearly horrifying him.

"These witches have more than a few screws loose..." he muttered.

"In any case, last night, I... killed Aunt Twilip. ... Not that I liked doing it, but..."

His voice trailed off into a sigh as he hung his head. He was too mentally exhausted to even try to justify this.

"That's everyone, then," Bertram said, before sighing. "We all know what comes next. Personally... much as it pains me to say it, I think Allister might be our best option.

"We already know it can't be me. I believe Asher's role is far too mortal-like for him to be a witch. Wyn and Archer are worth more alive than dead, at such a critical juncture. That leaves Maurice and Allister. Personally, I think Maurice's talents would be strange on a witch, given that they would be entirely useless the first two twilights. Allister, meanwhile, has a role that I could certainly see a witch possessing. That about sums up my thoughts on the matter."

Maurice shook his head. "Well, if it comes down to the two of us, then my choice should be quite obvious. I, of course, have no reason to want to die, so my vote goes to Allister, of course. As Bertram said, my role would not be beneficial as a witch. It would also have been quite easy to verify that I was not a Golden Witch, had Basil investigated me much earlier than all this... Still, if I were a witch with this role, it would be hard for me to put it to good use. If you ask me, the technicality of dying with somebody else I visit is more beneficial to the witches if I were a witch-aligned mortal more than just a witch. Which I'm not saying I am at all, but I'd say this paints me likely to not be a witch. Meanwhile, being able to delay somebody for an entire night is quite the benefit. And in Allister's case, it benefits him more than us as a group. If it's between the two of us, then I definitely advocate for him to go. Wyn has even verified there's nothing more to my role, so I truly have nothing to hide."

---

"My vote will be going to Sir Maurice."

"Putting aside the horrid thought of lynching my own flesh and blood, Sir Maurice's role is quite easy to exploit for a witch. He does not have to be the Golden Witch itself, but say if the power were passed down to him, his role is almost perfect for it."

"Allister's... ability may not benefit us, but I cannot see it benefiting the witches much as well, other than to delay investigations of his person, or other actions that keep him safe. Meanwhile, Sir Maurice cannot even be killed without some dumb luck on the killer's side. Even Master Bertram, who cannot die to a witch can still die to a mortal."

"Sir Maurice's power can be utilized, while Allister's power is sort of just... there. He cannot go out of his way to act to the witches benefit, while Sir Maurice could eventually inherit the killing power and sacrifice himself to lead us off the path. Between the two, I feel Sir Maurice is more likely to be on the other side."

"I agree with Archer. Uncle Maurice can keep himself alive by hiding out in someone's room, undetected, and if he's a witch and stays alive long enough, he can easily last a long time and inherit the killing power. Meanwhile, Allister can run away to delay an action... but only temporarily. Soon enough, they'll catch up with him and be able to perform whatever they planned to do, whether it was killing him, delaying him, whatever," Asher stated, leaning onto his cane.

"Maurice's role is, overall, more beneficial to the witches and to himself than Allister's. Another thing to note is how long he lasted in the book and the dream. He died when Wyn died, which was fairly late on in the book, and died when Uncle Bertie died in the dream, which was right at the end. Factoring all of this together... I believe him to be the more likely suspect over Allister. So in that case, I'll be voting for Uncle Maurice as well. I rest my case."

"I must agree with Father and Sir Asher." Allister said, obviously not wanting to vote for himself. "I'll be placing my vote for Sir Maurice as well."

"I believe he is a witch. His ability would let him hide with people he knows aren't being targeted, allowing him to draw suspicion away from himself. And when it's convenient for him, he would be able to kill himself without the need of the absolute death circle. Like Sir Asher said, he died twice alongside the others when they were targeted by witches. Perhaps these have both only been coincidences, but I believe it is the work of a witch."

"I don't feel particularly swayed by these arguments. There are many abilities that would be all-too-useful in the hands of a witch, I don't think that logic will help us. Still... we have to prioritise information above all else, unfortunately," Bertram said. "If Maurice is alive, it may interfere with what we can glean from the final twilight. To that end, I will change my vote to Maurice."

[THEME MUSIC]

Maurice looks around at the others in the flickering candlelight. The rain outside sounds like it's letting up, but nobody takes their eyes off of him.

Asher looks at his long-estranged uncle.

What had happened to him in all the years he was gone?

Maurice removes his glasses and places them on the table in front of him.

Bertram looks at his little brother with a mixture of regret and fear. He doesn't look like he has anything more to say to the man who left the family all that time ago.

Wyn sits quietly away from the others, looking rather lonely.

Maurice had told them two or even three or more witches still were out there.

It won't end with this.

A shotgun blast deafens everyone as Archer empties Gloria's shotgun.

Maurice is thrown backwards and collapses in a bloody mess.

The rain stops...

All that's left is the journey home.

Asher flinched a bit as the loud shotgun blast echoed through the room, sending his uncle flying backwards. Once the job was done, he shook his head and looked towards the window, noticing that the rain was no longer pattering against it anymore.

"... Looks like the storm is over," he helpfully elucidated. "Hopefully... Hopefully we made the right choices this time. ... And hopefully it was worth it."

How cryptic.

"Win or lose, we will defeat the witches in the end. That's all that matters," Bertram said. "I'm sure they can hear us right now, alive or otherwise. They know what's coming for them."

He then went to pour himself a drink, knowing full well he might be next to die, like last time.

[Ignore this]

Strangers + Liars + Witches

[THEME MUSIC]

The remaining Moonviews rush out of the side door of the house, and begin their mad dash for the boathouse. In the story, the witches had been waiting there, but this time, just maybe...



Bertram huffs and puffs. Wyn and Archer had disappeared behind him. Allister and Asher had vanished ahead of him. He chokes out a few short breaths, he cannot stop running, and yet he fears what he will find when he gets their. The strain makes him feel sick, but he can almost see down to the boathouse.

He sees one figure bent over another on the ground, holding something high in their hand. Has Asher caught Allister? What is happening.

Moonlight glints off of the knife as it plunges downward. Bertram keeps running forward, but his vision is shaky. He thinks he has seen someone get stabbed, but now there are still two figures down at the shoreline. They both disappear into the boathouse.

Bertram glances behind him for danger, but Wyn and Archer are completely gone. He arrives at the dock, and sees something strange:

It's his brother Maurice, with a knife stabbed into him. Checking his vitals he is clearly dead, and yet who had brought him down here? And when? Was this a decoy or just a weird accident that happened during the confusion? The entire situation is mystifying to Bertram.

Maurice hears the sound of an explosion and liquid spraying everywhere, along with a shriek of horror. Bertram turns to see Allister shaking in the doorway of the boathouse. Bertram stands up and makes his way over to young Allister, stopping only when he sees the bloody mess of a body.

Asher lays splayed out on the ground. His head has turned into red mist, like it burst in an explosive spray. There, at right where the neck ends in a utter stump, is a large red magic circle with a big old happy face, making it look like he has a big magic circle for a head.

On closer inspection, it looks like someone hastily drew over the real magic circle underneath: the absolute death circle. The witches are playing a funny trick.

Bertram closes his eyes in thought, it's to be expected, after all. At least one witch is still out there...



Wyn makes it to the bottom of the hill. Shortly thereafter, Archer does as well.

Allister and Bertram are already untying the boat, letting the others know that Asher is dead.

Archer and Wyn nod in solemn acceptance and hurry to help Bertam and Allister.

In less than a minute, the survivors are scrambling into the boat where Zachary died in the story book.

They all pile in, glad to be safe and begin to power the boat away.

The boat bounces over the first wave, and the island begins to disappear behind them...

A spray of blood hits Bertram's jacket as the open air of the ocean is whipping around him. It's not his. He turns around.

[Strangers + Liars + Witches: End]

Wyn lays in the center of the boat, a pool of blood forming around her, a silver knife sticking out of her chest. She twitches, her heart still wishing to beat, but finally she comes to a complete still. A locket is clenched in her fist.

Bertram looks at Archer and Allister for an explanation, but he doesn't get any because they aren't there. Wyn is dead and the butlers are gone!

Bertram only has a few seconds to think about what just happened when his feet leave the floor of the boat as it crashes into a wave behind him.

He plunges into the inky blackness of the ocean, and the boat travels off without him. He thrashes to stay afloat, but something is dragging him under. Maybe it's the waves of the speedboat, or maybe it's something else, something darker.

He never returns to the surface.

Bertram Moonview is never again found.



Back at the Moonview Manor, Asher and Wyn join the family at the dining table. The family is together as one again.

A shotgun blast rattles the room after everyone, including Twilip, has been placed around the table. The final survivor is dead.





After the Massacre of Eventide Island, or, as it was known colloquially, the Moonview Massacre, the police did their best to search for the three people missing from the dining table. They searched far and wide for the servants known as Archer and Allister, and their master Bertram, but nothing ever came of the search. It was never discovered by the police that Allister was Archer's son. Alice and Anton were cruelly orphaned at a young age and never saw a dime of the family fortune again. They went to live with their Mom's family. As they grew up, they held onto hope that their dad was still alive somewhere, and that he would return and explain what happened. That day never came...

Eventually Vincent's family got his share of Gloria's fortune and Vincent's guitar. In spite of the mystery surrounding the death of the Moonview family, he was never proven to be a conspirator of any sort. His family remembered him fondly for the rest of their lives...

Billy's share of his fortune eventually made it's way to Auntie Frank, who learned that his former life partner had been the third son of Gloria Moonview. Auntie Frank immediately renounced his share, not wanting to give up the life Billy and him had lead together. Uncle Billy and Auntie Frank's shop closed in 2014 when Auntie Frank retired...

Allister lived under a new name, which was easy, because he was never documented under his original name. He kept his profile low, and outran the authorities at every turn. He lived a long and fulfilling life, but he never forgot those two days in 1987...

But it's still not completely over...

Four Final Letters

[THEME MUSIC]

Light glistens down on everyone through the dining room window. The sun is setting and washing everyone in the reds and yellows of the stained glass panes. Beyond the window, nothing can be seen except the ambient natural light.

The Moonviews eat plums and other various treats around the dining table as Archer and Allister rush to feed everyone. Gloria smiles, happy to see everyone eating together. She is so overwhelmed with utter joy.

Briggs is seated at the table with the others. Even though Gloria originally hired Briggs for his body, she is glad to see him getting to become closer to the rest of the family.

Everyone is cheerful, forgetting about the issues of murder or inheritance, they just want to catch up and talk.

Suddenly the door slams open. The sky immediately dims with a dark energy. It blots out the rays of the setting sun. Gloria frowns at her son.

[SCENE MUSIC]

Bertram is soaked the bone, having crawled out of the ocean a short few minutes ago. He stares at his family and they stare blankly back at him.

Of course, they all knew what he wanted, and they wanted it too, ultimately.

Answers.

Archer, sensing the changing mood in the Golden Land begins preparing the tea, and Allister goes out to get the chess tables.

It's time to figure all of this out.

Maybe, knowing who the witches are, they can prevent all of this from happening!



Last edited by Doctor Nanjo on Fri Jun 19, 2020 6:00 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Lucine, still munching on a plum, rather uncouthly wiped her hands on her dress before adressing her father. "... Is this necessary, father? We have lost. All of us have failed as hunters. The Golden Land wipes away all sins, so there's no longer any need for justice to redeem ourselves..."

With blatant disregard for the description of "cheerful" Basil pounds the table with his fist sending the cutlery rattling.

"You're damn right we want answers! Some of you sitting around this table killed us! Frankly I can't believe we're all so civil about it."

He looked over to Gloria "Firstly, mother, do you know what the closed eye sigil means?"

---

"I refuse to be beaten!" Bertram replied furiously, taking off his sodden coat and hanging it up somewhere. "You may be happy here, and maybe I might be in time as well, but Alice and Anton are still out there! And it's all because of these damned witches."

"Aww, there goes the mood, huh? :("

"Basil you're so pushy," Gloria giggles, a little irritated. "Fine, fine, if you must know, I don't know what it means. Or at least, I don't know what they were thinking with that one..."

MUNCH

Gloria takes a couple seconds to swallow a bite.

"If you're asking for what it does, like magically, I don't think it does anything. That's why it's undocumented."

"Yo, man. We're trying to enjoy our meal with Auntie Gloria..." Vincent said as he take a bite out of his meal. "And you guys decided to make a fuss about answers? What give?"

For a moment, James seemed be lost in thought. It was clear that something was on his mind. However, his plastic smile quickly returned to him even though it had somehow become even more forced, "I agree with Bertie. If we can't even catch a couple of witches then we'll truly be failures. What is there to lose? If we lose nothing changes but if we win we get our lives back."

Despite herself, Lucine cracked a small smile. "Very well, then. Grandmother was right, you do have the strongest witch hunter's blood of us all, despite the disappointingly small brim of your hat."

"If we will start discussing again, it would be wise to breach a topic only the dead have been aware of: Aunt Twilip's accusation. She claims I have a different role than the one I claimed. It would certainly be helpful if someone could have investigated me earlier..."

"It's almost as if Twilip has been lying all along. Not that we didn't already know it." Violet says with a light shrug. "After all, trying to save Vincent was definitely an interesting move."

Basil's moustache bristled at Lucine's words. "Indeed I can only think of one narrow situation where Twilip isn't a liar."

"I think Twilip is a strong vote but I think we need to get rid of Vincent first."

---

Twilip takes a bit out of an apple. "Nice to see that you can be right even in death brother. I'll posit this, Lucine's visits cannot be seen by those of us with observing abilities not including Basil as he does not count as an observer."


"My my. It seems as though you take a bit after your mother don't you?" She slams a hand on the table.

"I WAS TRYING TO GET VINCENT KILLED YOU DO NOTHING DOLT!" She takes a chunk out of her apple and swallows. "HOW IS IT THAT YOU HAVE A PERFECTLY BRIGHT FATHER AND STEP-MOTHER AND HAVE INHERITED ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OF VALUE IN TERMS OF INTELLIGENCE?!"

Violet smiles, "I'm glad you agree that you are, in fact, walking a tight rope here."

“We should vote for Archie for coming up with the most retarded plan ever.” ‘Mickey’ huffed in disbelief at his former servant. “What the flying fuck were you thinking? You think we’re gonna buy whatever bullshit you shovel?”

He then turned to his sister. “But we’ll get to that. She goes first.”

Last edited by JesusMonroe on Fri Jun 19, 2020 6:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

James shook his head, "I think Twilip is the better option Bas once her status is confirmed, we'll be able to learn a lot of things. We can save Vince for later. So for that reason, I'm voting for Twilip."

Last edited by Winston Payne on Fri Jun 19, 2020 6:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Basil unceremoniously chucked a plum across the table at Lippy.

"DON'T YOU DARE RAISE YOUR VOICE TO MY DAUGHTER LIKE THAT!" He decried wagging a cautionary finger at his sister

"BESIDES! You absolutely never mentioned that detail before when we were in the tea room! Lucine even called you out on it there! I saw Lucine myself! I have no idea what makes you think I wouldn't count as an observer!"

---

"My my, brother. And here I was hoping the golden land could cure your foul personality..."

James asked Gloria, "If Basil is telling the truth, would he count as an observer?"

"Yeah, Twilip's outburst isn't helping her case. So, I'm voting for Twilip." Vincent said as he snaps his fingers.

He looks toward Gloria. Seems like he wants a question answered.

"Auntie Gloria? Why choose Billy, Robin and me as the three inheritors in the will of yours?" The musician asked.

Briggs tapped his foot restlessly. "I vote with Sir Basil. Vincent is a fiend and there is potential room for doubt in regards to Twilip.

I vote for Vincent."